Express SA has gone Mobile!

Express Employment Professionals SA has gone mobile!

They now have a mSite. With the amount of smartphones roaming the streets, a huge percentage of one’s current web traffic is as a result of access via mobile. The question to ask yourself. Do you have a mobi site? or Are your visitors landing on your desktop page which looks squashed on their mobile.

Express Employment Professionals SA has gone for a simple yet informative mSite. Cant wait to hear what Dave Martin will say about this one. But I will share with him the phase two. So don’t show him this post!

The mSite has five pages viz Home, About Us, Candidates, Employers and Contact. The presence of Social Media links on each page is what I love most on this site.  The home page has a short intro and links to the Employer and Candidates section respectively. The bottom of each page has links to Feedback, Full Site and Disclaimer.

Tweets from SocialMediaInRecruitment Conference 2012

Mike Taylor of Social Media In Recruitment hosted the Social Media In Recruitment Conference, 19th April 2012 at the Congress Centre in London. The fourth one of its kind.

Below is a random selection of some of the Tweets that came from the event under the hashtag #SMIR

@99GR81 “most organisations are vomiting jobs” < most candidates are vomiting applications right back #SMIR
@James_Mayes @raymckeating “social” has no geography. Social media does. #SMIR
@TheSourceress I’m reminded of my blog post – It’s Called Social Media For A Reasonhttp://ht.ly/alG5a #smir
@_k_johnson Its not just about content. who’s gonna do the “social” & building of relationships – conversations etc – the long game #SMIR
Ben Phillips ‏ @TRecKnowledgy A linkedin status of “I’m recruiting for a blah blah blah” is not#socialrecruiting. We’ve been doing this on job boards since mid 90s#SMIR
#SMIR 75% of jobseekers look to the career website for info. Still key portal, but should link to & from other channels
@CasualFilms Social networks increasing in use, career websites decreasing over last 3 years as a way of finding out about employers #SMIR
 @DavidJohnston1 Show the conversations on your career site. Give insight and activity, but don’t vomit jobs…#SMIR
@RayMackeating Interesting…64% job seekers expect to find employers presence on on Facebook #SMIR 
@ToriAtHead Interesting stats- of recent graduates in the UK only 26% are on Twittter & 24% are on LinkedIn, but 93% are on Facebook #SMIR
 @James_Mayes#smir Def challenging the stats here. 34% of students expect an employer to be on G+? No, I think not.
@JackkBarton LinkedIn isn’t Social Media #SMIR 
@AmarSanghera People who just want a “job” want a quick application process. People who want a “CAREER” appreciate & understand a longer process#SMIR 
 @JackkBarton LinkedIn isn’t Social Media #SMIR <if you just advertise & search. That’s a job board
@Socialmediarec Content rich twitter profile four times more popular than jobs Twitter profile for successsappts #smir
@socialjulia “It’s not about stats, it’s about reality.” Favourite quote of the day so far from #smir
@James_Mayes @mobile_dave At #smir @successappts are showing off what they’ve done with mobile. Might be a review candidate for you.
@irishrecruiter: LinkedIN Groups surely work better than LinkedIN Jobs! 🙂 #smir
@ehsantweets Recruitment & attracting talents based on principles of advertising is not the best approach. Social recruitment = exact type of job. #SMIR 
@garelaos Well done to @successappts for getting stuck into SM and embracing failure too. The industry could learn a lot from them. #smir
 

Social Media In Recruitment Conference -19th April 2012, Congress Centre, London

@hhudda_newfront It’s all about engagement! Do it, and do it well. #SMIR
@UKSourcers “You’ve just got to go for it, there’s risk involved with everything you do in business.” Steven Selby @successappts #smir 
@garelaos if you aren’t creating value in some way as an org, then you dont exist #community #smir
@TRecKnowledgy The key is to attract (& connect) in #LinkedInGroups, & take candidates to your ‘platform’ like a blog #SMIR
@JackkBarton @TheSourceress I think there has to be a distinction between business media and social media that is then used for business.#SMIR 
@Ehsantweets Couple of years ago some brands said Social Media is about experiment. It is not an experiment anymore; just the time to get it right. #SMIR 
@Socialmediarec Blogged: How job seekers use Social Media When Job Hunting And What They Expect To See From Employers http://bit.ly/JNiRCJ #smir
@RayMckeating Social media helps bring down the cost associated with recruiting#SMIR 
@MrPeterReagan Consider a thousand bad comments about your business on social media as free research. Monitor, Listen and take immediate action.#SMIR 
@MrPeterReagan Stop being afraid of people accessing social media in work time. Let them do it and the 2-3 week spike in activity will soon subside. #SMIR
@MrPeterReagan Agencies raise your game. If customers are better at using social media to recruit than we are, then market share is under threat!#SMIR
@CasualFilms “Video is THE best way to give people an insight into your business”@katrinacollier @winningimpress #SMIR
 
 
 

Download The Proposed Amendment Labour Bills 2012

The Department of Labour has now uploaded the LRA and BCEA amendment bills together with the Memorandum of Objects. Click the links below to get yourself a copy

Memorandum of Objects: Labour Relations Act Amendment Bill, 2012

Labour Relations Act Amendment Bill, 2012

Basic Conditions of Employment Act Amendment Bill, 2012

Memorandum of Objects: Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill, 2012

Credit to Jeroen van Oostrom, the digital artist who created this image.

Credit to Jeroen van Oostrom, the digital artist who created this image.

South African Staffing & Recruitment Industry – London is Calling

CIETT World Employment Conference 2012

The theme is Transforming our Global Brand.

REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) is hosting the CIETT (The International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies) World Conference. This 3-day event will be held 23 – 25 May 2012 at Landmark London. It will explore market trends and developments, and will also focus on how we deal with the challenges facing our global industry.  There will be plenary presentations, along with masterclasses, and much more.

Top reasons to attend:

  • The conference programme will provide a balance between the strategic trends of the global staffing industry, whilst offering practical advice
  • You will hear from business leaders who are experts in their chosen fields
  • Insight, knowledge and thought-provoking viewpoints will be discussed and debated by our high profile speakers during main stage plenary and bespoke breakout sessions
  • Network with over 400 recruitment professionals from around the world, and share a wealth of experience and ideas
  • Meet suppliers in exhibitions. Discuss your issues, and let them showcase their latest technologies and problem solving solutions.
  • WeszMadz highly recommends you attend the CIETT2012 World Conference

So, can you afford to miss this once in a lifetime chance to visit one of the world’s great cities and learn from the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=087GMV05d-s#!]

Rules intended to protect temps are having the opposite effect

As South Africa is pushing the Labour Bills into Parliament, in UK’s new Agency Worker Regulations, one of the hot issues “same pay and benefits as permanent workers” is resulting in an opposite effect. 

Extracts from The Telegraph article

Under the changes, which stem from European law, temps are entitled to the same pay and benefits as permanent workers after just 12 weeks in a job. Previously, they had to wait one year to clock up employment rights. ( SA has proposed 6months. We should be doing one year)

A Government analysis said the new rules would cost firms £1.8bn (over R10bn!) a year to implement, raising fears that cash-strapped businesses would stop hiring temps as it no longer made commercial sense. A typical small business would have to pay an extra £2,493 a year, increasing to £73,188 for larger companies. (Experts in SA have always been saying more people, if not more households will suffer as a result)

The new 12-week rule also damages temps’ flexibility to cover peaks and troughs in demand, experts said.

Scores of employers have revisited how they will use temps following the new rules, and are either recruiting fewer agency staff or urging them to waive their rights under a legal loophole. (This is one of my fears for the SA market)

Tom Hadley, policy director at the REC, said the decline in temp hiring “may in part be linked to employer uncertainty over the agency worker regulations”. (Unfortunately this has already commenced in SA without even the bills finalised)

The number of people placed in short-term jobs fell in March at the fastest rate for two-and-a-half years, research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG revealed. (The Namibia case comes to mind. SA should bear this in mind)

SOURCE: THE TELEGRAPH

Credit to worradmu for the image

Credit to worradmu for the image

Am I Permanent after 6months of working as a temp?

This has been a huge argument among labour experts some saying all temps become permanent after six months. Well today (4 April 2012) the Department of Labour held their first public briefing in Johannesburg and here is what the Labour Chief Director Thembinkosi Mkalipi had to say….

Temporary work would be defined as that lasting no more than six months, said chief director of collective bargaining Thembinkosi Mkalipi. “After six months, I cannot be treated differently from other employees, no matter if I am employed by the broker or the client,” he said. “Let’s give workers what is due to them.”  This could be summarised as “same treatment and same pay for the same work”. Exceptions included workers who earned more than R172,000 per year, certain types of seasonal work and contracts to replace staff on sick leave.

SOURCE: iafrica

So there we have it! and I qoute “…no matter if I am employed by the broker or the client”

Amendment of section 198 of Act 66 of 1995 – general provisions regulating temporary employment services
Section 198 continues to apply to all employees. It retains the general provisions that a TES is the employer of persons whom it employs and pays to work for a client, and that a TES and its client are jointly and severally liable for specified contraventions of employment laws.

A number of further general protections are introduced:

  •  An employee bringing a claim for which a TES and client are jointly and severally liable may institute proceedings against either the TES or the client or both and may enforce any order or award made against the TES or client against either of them.

Cancel your Easter Holiday Plans! Public briefings on Labour bills commences 4 April 2012!

As we all know the amendment bills for the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) have been submitted to the Cabinet Committee by The Minister of Labour. Next Up is the Public hearings and it is of interest to note that the public briefings planned by Department of Labour are intended to strictly inform and are not an input gathering session. One way traffic it seems.

“We are going to have briefings in all the provinces. In 2010 after publishing the new bills for amendment, we went on a national public hearings campaign, where we solicited comments from the public and various organisations. So, we feel it is also important, that we should go back and report to public what we propose. We want to educate interested stakeholders what these changes mean. Our duty now is to provide clarification,” DoL Chief Director: Collective Bargaining Thembinkosi Mkalipi (27 March 2012)

SOURCE: DOL

The schedule for the public briefings is as follows: 

Johannesburg, Orion Devonshire Hotel on 04/04/2012;

Cape Town, Fountains Hotel 05/04/2012;

Polokwane, Meropa Casino 09/04/2012. (Thats Easter Monday! Someone tell the Minister)

(Polokwane changed to 02/05/2012 CHANGES HERE)

Durban, Tropicana Hotel 12/04/2012; (Durban changed to 18/04/2012) (CHANGES HERE)

Port Elizabeth; Eastern Cape Training Centre 17/04/2012;

Bloemfontein, President Hotel 23/04/2012;

Kimberley, ICC Kimberley 24/04/2012;

Rustenburg,  Hunters Rest 25/04/2012; (Rustenburg changed to 20 April 2012) (CHANGES HERE)

Witbank Protea Hotel 26/04/2012;

NB All public briefings will be held from 10:00 to 13:00

Qoutable Quotes: Labour Broking Saga March 2012

1. Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane March 8 2012

“Cabinet wishes to reiterate its conviction that abusive labour practices should be prohibited. The matter of labour brokers is being discussed at Nedlac by all the social partners.

“Cabinet calls on all social partners to prioritise the finalisation of this matter at Nedlac.”

SOURCE

2. President Jacob Zuma

“The ruling party’s 2009 manifesto was jointly adopted and launched by the alliance – the ANC, Cosatu and the SA Communist Party,”

SOURCE

3. ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe

“This ANC 2009 election manifesto was signed by all alliance partners, including Cosatu.”

SOURCE

4. Strike participant Edward Stalwart

If labour brokers were banned, “the companies that make use of the labour brokers will simply get guys off the streets to do the job”, said strike participant Edward Stalwart.

“Nothing will be accomplished by getting rid of labour brokers, it will only make the situation worse.”

Stalwart said rather than call a march, Cosatu should have upped their efforts to negotiate with government and business.

“We have been marching for all these years and we never got answers.  Why would the government and businesses listen to this time around?  This is time wasting,” said Stalwart.

SOURCE

5. Labour Brokers: Cosatu Snubbed (The New Age)

“The government will transform laws to regulate labour broking because banning it will send thousands of people to the jobless queue,” said the source. “I shudder to think what the trade unions will do because the government’s refusal to ban labour broking will obviously disappoint them.”

SOURCE

6. ‘Don’t panic over labour brokers’ LABOUR Minister Mildred Oliphant

LABOUR Minister Mildred Oliphant yesterday said there was no reason to panic about labour brokers as discussions and negotiations at Nedlac were ongoing.

SOURCE

7. Black Business Council (BBC) welcomes Labour broking regulation

“We also welcome the news that there is a drive to regulate, rather than ban labour broking in South Africa.

“We maintain that flexible employment solutions should be counted among real solutions to the scourge of unemployment, especially among the youth.”

SOURCE

8. ‘Labour brokers add value’

The Black Business Council on Wednesday said labour broking does add value to the economy but that any abusive practices in the industry must be stamped out.

SOURCE

9. Mechanism of flexibility – Neren Rau

“We are removing a mechanism of flexibility and a mechanism of job creation from the environment due to a small level of lack of compliance and not really appreciating the huge benefits that labour broking offers to our economy and businesses and prospective employees.” Neren Rau, CEO of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry